Damian didn’t so much dodge the attack as he did fall backward at the perfect moment. He was really tired of falling, but given the choice between the pavement and a sword, the decision was clear.

  “Hey, hey, wait up! What the hell? I didn’t agree!” he protested, backing up as Andy tried to cut him again, his smile growing wider as he attempted another slash with his razor-sharp blade. “Cut it out, you maniac!” he screamed.

  “Don’t worry! That kid’s a bit crazy, but I’m watching! I’ll stop him if you’re about to die!” the lady shouted from behind.

  Damian managed to roll out of the way as another slash came, dodging the blade. Or at least he thought he did, but he felt the pain as a gaping cut formed on his neck, drawing blood and causing him to yelp in agony. The cut didn’t come from the sword, but rather, it felt like some kind of energy had formed to slash him.

  “Hey, kid! Dodging won’t work against that maniac! You’re gonna have to fight back!” the lady shouted again, half encouragingly and half out of boredom with the current pace of the fight.

  Damian tried to recompose himself. He didn’t fully understand his newfound abilities. He hadn’t exactly been unconscious while fighting Calbe, who was currently passed out on the wall, but he hadn’t been fully awake either, almost like he was in a trance. What he did understand was that he didn’t trust the woman watching them both. If he didn’t fight back right now, it was very likely he would die.

  This guy is obviously a sigrist, and one that’s advanced enough to do whatever that cutting technique was back at the bar.

  If I’m gonna have to fight anyway, let’s try… this.

  __________________________________________________________________

  Marina was watching the battle with an eager look when a black-purple energy enveloped Andy’s hand. He tried to use his sword, but his arm went slack, falling to his side, giving Damian time to get up and take what he probably thought was a fighting stance. In reality, it looked more like a toddler copying something he’d seen on television. Andy’s smile only grew wider as a white line formed around his hand, dispelling the energy, but leaving his palm with a deep cut.

  What a shameless student I have… always overcompensating.

  The newly awakened fighter wasn’t deterred, forming the black-purple energy into his own hands as he threw an amateurish punch at Andy. Andy effortlessly sidestepped, then took the opportunity to make a blow as his sword connected with his opponent’s torso, tearing a gaping hole in his shirt and leaving a bloody cut on his chest. The boy nearly stumbled over, but he caught himself.

  Marina watched in anticipation. It seemed like the power he had shown before the fight was nothing but a temporary boost. Willpower was always strongest when going through awakenings, so it wasn’t surprising. She had just hoped it would last long enough to give him a chance, but from what she was seeing, she doubted it.

  Having earlier interrupted one of his attacks, Marina expected the boy to be a sigrist. The physical force behind that blow was enormous, almost rivaling the pure physical strength of Andy. Him being a myrist was a pleasant surprise. Most myrists she knew were elementalists, but she was aware that myria could vary. It seemed that the newly awakened fighter’s myria was more… conceptual.

  He fought with a grim expression, like he was fighting for his survival. Does he not trust me? Marina thought with amusement, How hurtful.

  The boy turned around, attempting another clumsy tackle. Andy got ready to dodge again, but this time, the boy’s myria enveloped Andy’s body. Andy’s smile fell as his eyes widened in shock. He fell to his knees, his sword clattering to the floor. The boy’s reckless charge connected, his fist landing into Andy’s gut. Andy’s face went white with pain as he grimaced. For the first time, the boy’s serious face cracked a slight grin. Marina smiled with unexpected pride. Perhaps he had more of a chance than she thought.

  Andy couldn’t get up, so instead, he dived to the side, reaching for his sword. The moment he grabbed it, he looked at the boy with a mix of fury and glee. The boy grimaced as he heard the whirring sound of cuts forming on his arms and chest. In response, he made one last desperate tackle, falling on top of Andy and pinning him to the ground.

  Marina watched as Andy tried to escape, but the boy pushed harder, a purple mass forming on both of their bodies. Andy was still holding his sword, so he wasn’t out of options. Andy stared up into the boy’s eyes as the whirring sound grew even louder, the boy’s body becoming a bloody mess. Andy was using the last of his energy to cause wounds to form on every part of his body, yet the boy stayed firm, keeping them both in stalemate.

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  Marina frowned. What is he trying to do? The boy gained nothing from dragging out the fight. Andy was currently exhausted from his previous match, and giving him time to recover would be nothing but a death sentence. Yet for some reason, he was smiling with almost the same fervor as Andy was, holding him down with all of his energy.

  That’s when her prana sensed a spike in will. She looked up to see a swirling black and purple ball of energy forming about 5 meters above the boy, humming with a low bass note. It wasn’t very big, about the size of a head, but as she watched, she saw the colour darken and deepen, the amount of will emanating from it growing exponentially.

  Is he crazy? What the hell is he trying to do?

  She watched as the orb went fully black, its growth coming to a halt. Andy hadn’t even noticed, his sight tunneling onto the boy in front of him as he was held down. The boy let go of the myria enveloping him and Andy, but something was wrong. The boy was on the brink of collapse. He couldn’t move.

  The ball fell, with both boys directly in its path.

  Marina drew her greatsword in an instant, becoming a streak of red light as her blade rammed into the orb. Enveloped in sigra, the blade cut through the mass like a knife through butter, causing it to explode into a burst of will, the scale of which Marina couldn’t believe.

  She looked down at the two, with Andy breathing heavily and the boy, whose name she still didn’t know, now fully passed out on top of Andy. Marina could only guess that he had intended to move out of the way at the last moment, but ran out of energy and passed out, leaving himself a victim to his own attack.

  If that attack had landed, the boy would have died. She was sure.

  However, she was also sure that her student would have been flattened by it. Nothing that she had taught him could have saved him at that moment. Without a doubt, that attack would have killed Andy.

  She stared at the boy with newfound respect. What kind of nonsense did he comprehend for his myria to be so powerful from his very first awakening? She couldn’t even begin to fathom it.

  “This kid,” she started, her smile growing as she spoke, “is a monster.”

  __________________________________________________________________

  Damian awoke to the hum of the light-currents and the rhythmic sounds of footsteps. He quickly noticed he was slung on someone's back. He tried to push, to get up on his own two feet, but his muscles screamed in protest. For the first time in a long time, Damian felt weightless.

  “Put me down,” Damian croaked, his voice raspy.

  “If I did that, you’d fold like a wet napkin. Stay put kid.” the lady carrying him said in response. It was then that Damian realized who it was. The crazy lady from back in the alley. He pushed even harder, but to no avail.

  Damian looked around. The sky was starting to get dark, with the streets being more or less empty. The light-currents emitted a strong blue hue in response to the night sky. At some point, they had crossed from the downtown commercial district all the way to the residential area, where modern houses stood. Walking all the way here couldn’t have been easy, especially while carrying a teenage boy.

  “We never got your name.” a voice from behind him declared in an even tone. Damian looked backwards to see a heavily bruised Andy sheepishly staring at the floor as he walked. His tone made the implied question sound more like a factual statement, which he supposed it was. His heavy-duty clothes were dirty and torn, and he was still clutching the part of his lower chest that Damian had hit. His sword was resheathed, and his long, straight hair was left open.

  “It’s Damian,” Damian announced, looking around once more and trying to gauge exactly where they were. “What time is it? Where are you taking me? Who even are you guys?” he questioned, his voice slowly regaining its energy.

  “It’s about five hours to midnight, and we’re taking you to the motel that we’re staying at.” the lady replied. “As for your last question, I’m Marina Alexandra Dupont, vice-chief of the Solvane reconnaissance corps. Your double suicide attempt partner back there is Andy Du-”

  “Anderson Dupont.” the boy interrupted, annoyance seeping into his voice.

  “Right, Anderson Dupont. As you can see, he has a lot of opinions for a fourteen-year-old who is the vice-chief of nothing.” said Marina. “He’s a bit of a nutjob, and I deeply apologize for his… violent tendencies. You didn’t seem to mind too much though, seeing as you almost killed him.”

  Damian recalled the fight back then like a hazy dream. He hadn’t fully accepted his new awakening as a reality yet. It felt too good to be true. He reached out for the little mass he had left, and sure enough, he felt his weight concentrate on his index finger as purple energy surrounded it. He smiled.

  “Take the next left and then turn right when you see a hologram for magcar insurance. I don’t need to be sleeping at a stranger’s place on a day like this.” Damian instructed, now getting comfortable on Marina’s back.

  “Is that your house? I’m not sure that you should be going home so easily with your injuries.” Marina asked, concerned.

  “It’s fine, my mom can deal with them. I want my parents to hear the good news.”

  Damian focused on his weight again, feeling it slowly coming back.

  “After all, their son finally awakened.”